“Of all the ideas associated with the general concept of democratic government, the oldest and perhaps the soundest is that of equality before the law.  In relation to the scheme of Christian ethics it is too obvious to need statement.  It goes back, through the political and theological theorizing of the middle ages, to the early Christian notion of equality before God…The debt of democracy to Christianity has always been under estimated…Long before Rousseau was ever heard of, or Locke or Hobbes, the fundamental principle of democracy was plainly stated in the New Testament, and elaborately expounded by the early fathers, including St. Augustine… Today, in all Christian countries, equality before the law is almost as axiomatic as equality before God.”  – H.L Mencken